Page 55 - Grapevine May-June 2019

Around The Vineyard

American grapevines were resistant to phylloxera—
as well as powdery mildew, rot and other disease—
scientists responded to the crisis by grafting Vitis
vinifera vines onto to disease-resistant American
rootstock. While these new varieties did provide
a solution to phylloxera, the grapes crossed with
Vitis labrusca and Vitis riparia were not as popular
as those crossed with Vitis vinifera. Critics panned
the hybrids because they lacked “purebred” status
as well as the depth and complexity of Vitis vinifera
grapes. Also, hybrid wines were often panned as
“foxy,” a term describing juice that smells or tastes
like musky Welch’s grape juice. These undesirable
attributes caused many European countries to pro-
hibited the use of hybrid grapes in quality wines.

Turning Tides

Today, the tide is turning for these much-ma-
ligned varieties. Unlike sensitive vinifera grapes
that require particular weather conditions and soil
to thrive, French-American hybrids made from
Vitis labrusca and Vitis riparia can grow just about
anywhere. They withstand harsh winters—some
surviving in temperatures as low as -30 F—as well
as arid, brutally hot Arizona summers. Hybrid cul-
tivars are critical to the rapid changes in eastern
and central vineyards. With growth in wine-relat-
ed tourism exploding, wineries are showing up in
locations where wine production was once thought
impossible. Hybrids are also increasingly popular
because they are resistant to many diseases, which
encourages growers to farm organically. Even the
EU is encouraging producers to reconsider hybrid
grapes, as cost and health concerns from fungicides
continue to rise.

Much of the success of hybrid grapes today can
be attributed to the enology departments at the
University of Minnesota and Cornell University,
which have been breeding hybrid wine variet-
ies since the 1970s and 1980s. Minnesota’s wine
grape research enjoys recognition as one of the
top programs in the U.S., with the goal of develop-
ing high-quality, cold-hardy and disease-resistant
wine grape cultivars. Cornell is home to one of the
top viticulture and enology programs in the world
with international recognition for its expertise in
breeding table, juice and wine grapes adapted to

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